Carlos Watson (journalist)

Carlos Watson (born September 29, 1969) is an American entrepreneur, journalist, and television host. A former contributor on MSNBC and anchor on CNN, he co-founded media company Ozy in 2013, and hosted several shows produced by the company.
As an entrepreneur, Watson co-founded Achieva College Prep Service in 2002, which he later sold to ''The Washington Post'' and Kaplan. During his tenure as CEO of Ozy, the company raised over $70 million from investors . Watson was the host of ''The Carlos Watson Show'', a daily interview show on YouTube.

In September 2021, Watson attracted public controversy in the wake of a ''New York Times'' article alleging that Ozy had made significant misrepresentations to investors. Following the incident, Watson resigned from the board of NPR on October 1, 2021. Later that day, Ozy's board of directors announced that it was shutting the company down. Watson, in an October 4 interview on ''Today'', said that Ozy would remain in operation.

Early life and education

Watson was born and raised in Miami, Florida, one of four siblings born to Jamaican parents. He often describes himself as both the son and grandson of teachers . As a working-class family, they often struggled financially throughout his youth, regularly needing help from food stamps . Being labeled a problem child early in life, Carlos was asked to leave kindergarten in 1974, but entered first grade the next year. He attended Ransom Everglades School in Miami, then Harvard University. During high school and college he wrote more than 50 articles for the ''Miami Herald'' and the ''Detroit Free Press'', and worked for Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez and then-Senator Bob Graham .

Watson graduated with honors with a degree in government from Harvard University in 1991 . He then worked as Chief of Staff and Campaign Manager for Florida Representative Daryl Jones, and managed Bill Clinton’s 1992 Election Day effort in Miami-Dade County, Florida. He subsequently attended Stanford Law School, where he was an editor of the ''Stanford Law Review'' and president of the Stanford Law School Student Government.

Career

Business career

After graduating from Stanford Law School in 1995, Watson began work at McKinsey & Company. After two years at McKinsey, Watson left to co-found Achieva College Prep Service based in San Mateo, California. Watson sold Achieva in 2002 to competitor Kaplan, Inc. He later worked as the Global Head of Education Investment Banking for Goldman Sachs.

In 1997, he was a co-founder, together with Laurene Powell Jobs, of College Track.

Journalism and television career

Watson began a television career in 2002 with guest appearances on Fox News and Court TV as a political analyst. On Labor Day, 2003, he hosted an interview show on CNBC . Watson hosted a second interview show and was offered his own continuing interview show on CNBC , before joining CNN as a regular newscast contributor .

For two years, he appeared regularly as a political commentator on CNN, most notably covering the 2004 presidential election with Wolf Blitzer, Larry King and Jeff Greenfield. Also while at CNN, Watson wrote a column on CNN's website and hosted two airings of his own prime-time show interviewing Shaquille O'Neal, Barack Obama, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Heidi Klum. Watson also hosted ''Meet the Faith'' on BET.

In 2007, Watson began hosting a series of one-hour primetime interview specials on Hearst Television stations across the country called ''Conversations with Carlos Watson'', which won a Gracie Allen award for "Outstanding Portrait/Biography Program" and an Accolade Award in 2008.

Watson was named one of ''People''s "Hottest Bachelors" in 2004, as well as ''Extra''s list of most eligible bachelors in 2008.

In 2009, Watson was named co-anchor of an hour-long MSNBC segment with Contessa Brewer, while continuing to appear bi-weekly on ''Morning Joe''.

Watson was a founder and investor in The Stimulist, a daily blog that operated from mid-to-late 2009.

In March 2016, PBS announced a new debate program, ''Point Taken'', produced and hosted by Watson.

Watson was elected to the Board of Directors of NPR in 2018. On September 17, 2021, NPR announced that he was reelected to a second three-year term that would begin on November 1. Watson resigned from the board on October 1, the same day a governance committee was planning to meet to determine his future.

Watson was an executive producer for ''Black Women OWN the Conversation'' for the Oprah Winfrey Network . The episode "Motherhood" won the Outstanding News Discussion and Analysis award at the 41st News & Documentary Emmy Awards in 2020. He had been booked to present the documentary awards at the 2021 awards show, but stepped down following the ''New York Times'' report about Ozy.

Ozy

In September 2013, Watson launched Ozy, a daily digital news and culture magazine, with Samir Rao, a fellow Goldman Sachs alumnus.

As CEO, Watson led Ozy to raise over $70 million in fundraising from investors including Laurene Powell Jobs, Louise Rogers, Ron Conway, and others. The publication expanded from a daily digital news publisher to a producer of TV shows and podcasts. Ozy had partnerships with A&E Networks, iHeart Media, and Live Nation.

Watson was also the host of several of Ozy's TV shows and the Ozy Fest events held in New York City.

In late September 2021, Ozy Media was the subject of a ''New York Times'' article bringing attention to possibly fraudulent business practices and misrepresentations, including some attributed to Watson. Watson sent an email to all Ozy staff, and posted it to his Twitter account, referring to the ''Times'' article as a "ridiculous hitjob". Five former Ozy employees reported that, as a ''New York'' article summarized, "Watson's demands, expectations, and plans were often detached from reality, yet were enforced with an intensity that some felt bordered on cruelty."

Sharon Osbourne, the wife of rock star Ozzy Osbourne, alleged that Watson had falsely claimed the couple had invested in the business. She said of Watson, "This guy is the biggest shyster I have ever seen in my life". Watson told NBC News's ''Today'' that he had referred to the Osbournes as investors because they received shares of Ozy stock as part of a legal settlement. Osbourne told CNBC that she was repeatedly offered shares in Ozy and declined all offers.

On October 1, 2021, Ozy announced that it would cease operations. Watson on October 4 said that the company would remain in business.

References

External links

Carlos Watson - Profile
on ozy.com
*

From Silicon Valley to CNN
cover story in ''Stanford Lawyer'', Winter 2006

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21st-century American non-fiction writers
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